Jones County, Mississippi
Jones County is a county in Mississippi. The population of the county is 67,761. Major roads Interstate 59 US Route 11 US Route 84 Mississippi Highway 15 Mississippi Highway 28 Mississippi Highway 29 Mississippi Highway 184 Mississippi Highway 529 Mississippi Highway 533 Mississippi Highway 536 Mississippi Highway 537 Mississippi Highway 588 Mississippi Highway 590 Geography Adjacent counties Wayne County (east) Jasper County (north) Smith County (northwest) Perry County (southeast) Forrest County (southwest) Covington County (west) Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the county is: 65.20% White (44,180) 28.87% Black or African American (19,562) 4.53% Hispanic or Latino (3,069) 1.40% Other (950) 22.0% (14,907) of Jones County residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Mainly because of Laurel, Jones County's theft and murder rates are a bit above average. The county reported 32 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 2.41 murders a year. Pokemon Work in progress. Communities Cities Ellisville - 4,448 Laurel - 18,540 Towns Sandersville - 731 Soso - 408 CDPs Sharon - 1,406 Unincorporated communities Amy Antioch Eastabuchie Errata Glade Hoy Moselle Myrick Oak Bowery Oak Grove Ovett Pecan Grove Pendorff Sand Hill Service Shady Grove Tuckers Crossing Whitfield Climate Fun facts * According to tradition, the name "Soso" was derived from an old settler's common response to a question about how he was doing: "so-so". After the Civil War, yeoman farmers returned to the area. The town developed a small mixed-race community. Among its notable residents was Unionist Newton Knight, who lived there mostly after the Reconstruction era with his wife Rachel and family. Knight was known for having led the Knight Company in and around Jones County during 1863 and 1864 in resistance to Confederate authorities, trying to protect local farmers. After the war he lived in Jasper County for a time, where he was active in the Republican Party. In 1872 he was appointed as a deputy U.S. Marshal for the Southern District. After Reconstruction ended, Knight retired from politics, as white Democrats took over county and state offices. * On October 13, 1863, a band of deserters from Jones County and adjacent counties organized to protect the area from Confederate authorities and the crippling tax collections. The company, led by Newton Knight, formed a separate government, with Unionist leanings, known as the "Free State of Jones", and fought a recorded 14 skirmishes with Confederate forces. They also raided Paulding, capturing five wagonloads of corn that had been collected for tax from area farms, which they distributed back among the local population. The company harassed Confederate officials. Deaths believed to be at their hands were reported in 1864 among numerous tax collectors, conscript officers, and other officials. ** The governor was informed by the Jones County court clerk that deserters had made tax collections in the county impossible. By the spring of 1864, the Knight company had taken effective control from the Confederate government in the county. The followers of Knight raised an American flag over the courthouse in Ellisville, and sent a letter to Union General William T. Sherman declaring Jones County's independence from the Confederacy. In July 1864, the Natchez Courier reported that Jones County had seceded from the Confederacy. ** Scholars have disputed whether the county truly seceded, with some concluding it did not. While there have been numerous attempts to study Knight and his followers, the lack of documentation during and after the war has made him an elusive figure. The rebellion in Jones County has been variously characterized as consisting of local skirmishes to being a full-fledged war of independence. It assumed legendary status among some county residents and Civil War historians, culminating in the release of a 2016 feature film, Free State of Jones. The film is credited as "based on the books The Free State of Jones by Victoria E. Bynum and The State of Jones by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer". * The small, rural town of Eastabuchie is home to the studios of television station WDAM, the area's NBC and ABC affiliate. * Hunt Refining Company has a refinery northeast of Sandersville which processes crude oil acquired primarily from local Mississippi fields. The refinery produces distillate feedstock, paving grade asphalt, heavy gas oils, naptha, and roofing grade asphalt. Category:Mississippi Counties